Do I legally have to have ex's permission to home educate ds?

[poppijane]

I have a son who has school refusal, he isn't difficult when at home and is willing and keen to learn in the home environment so I would like to home educate him. However my ex husband is against this. Do I legally have to have the agreement of my ex husband or can I take the decision myself? We have joint custody but the children live with me and visit their father one night a week. Any advice appreciated as the ewo is threatening legal action if ds doesn't start attending school full time soon.

If your ex has PR (parental responsibility) then you have to agree things like schooling together. Your ex can apply for a prohibited steps order to prevent you from removing your son from school if he disagrees strongly enough.

Why does he disagree with home edding? Is it in principle or are the reasons specific to your son?

As he is your ex husband he will have PR. As the last poster said, this means you have to agree schooling together. If you can't, the only option is to get the courts to sort it out.

As your son is living with you the courts will usually go with your wishes unless your ex can persuade them that this is not in your son's best interests. Having said that, as the norm is for children to go to school you may have your work cut out to convince the court that home education is the right solution.

I think you need to find out why he objects and see if you can sort this out between you. Going to court costs money and is always a bit of a lottery so you want to avoid that if at all possible.

Thanks guys, he disagrees with me because he thinks that I am mollycoddling my son rather than the school refusal being a real issue. My son has ibs and ocd, he struggles with being in a classroom. Being at school has made him physically sick but I can't get my ex to see this is a real issue. I will try and arrange to meet and discuss it with him again.

Have you tried getting a referral to CAMHS? Perhaps you could get a meeting with your husband and your gp/a professional from CAMHS to discuss your sons issues?